Running Section J Southbound on the PCT

It's been three days, and I am still trying to gain perspective on what I did last weekend. I know in the trail running world, it's probably not that big of a deal. In fact, when I was training, I encountered someone who ran Section J in one day. But all I know is me, and I have decided that for me, my fastpack on the PCT was quite an accomplishment. The experience built character, confidence, mental and physical toughness, and pride. I spent four months building a training base of 20-mile long runs, and then I trained for seven months after that, all for something that was over in two days. It feels a little strange.

Below is a video with all the pictures and videos from my fastpack of Section J.

Best parts
Hands down, the best part was simply doing what I set out to do. I can't believe I ran and hiked 73 miles in two days! Many times after a long training run in the Issaquah Alps, I'd think, "Can I really go out and do twice as much in one day, followed by 20 miles the next day?" I pushed those doubts to a far corner in my mind, and marched ever onward with my training plan. It was remarkable what my mind was able to convince my body to do. Once I got out there, not completing it was simply not an option.

I am under three miles from finishing. John met me on the trail and brought food and water.

My favorite places were the beginning of the climb to Pieper Pass and the climb through the Waptus Burn. It's likely that I would have more places to include had there been no smoke, but these two places were beautiful for what they were close up, not a distant view. I put the best pictures of these two places in a previous post, but here are two different ones.

Pieper Pass climb

Waptus Burn

Elevation gain and loss
This was probably the toughest thing about the fastpack. Though I trained for elevation gain and loss that was comparable to what I would be doing on the PCT, I was still sore at the end of the first day. Normally, it takes a day for soreness to show up. I did my best to hike the steep parts and run the easier climbs and descents, as well as the flat parts. From both my research and personal experience, that is the wisest thing to do, or you'll trash your quads. Despite this, my quads were definitely trashed the first day. There were 10 climbs near or above 5,000 feet. Two were near 6,000 feet, and twice I went below 3,200 feet (in addition to a starting point of 4,062 feet and a finish at 3,022 feet). That's a lot of ups and downs. None of the climbs were terribly steep. Most were moderate. It seemed to me like the climbs were more gradual going southbound, so I am glad I chose that direction. Would I change anything about my training? For the most part, no. I would probably do a few more runs on the PCT starting at Snoqualmie Pass heading north just to get accustomed to the ruggedness of parts of the trail.

Going southbound, day 1 had 12,430 feet of elevation gain and 11,130 feet of elevation loss in 47.5 miles. Day 2  had 5,670 feet of elevation gain and 8,000 feet of elevation loss in 27.5 miles.

I passed signs like this many times throughout the fastpack. The smoke was the worst above 5,000 feet.

Trail and terrain
After having run 15 miles out from Snoqualmie Pass (to just above Park Lakes) and then back for a training run, I was worried the terrain on the trail was going to be rough the entire way, as that is how most of the way to Park Lakes is. I was delighted to find that most of the trail was quite runnable. It was enjoyable to run! I felt my feet and joints were well prepared for the technicality of the trail.

Much of the trail looked like this!

Camp
Making camp was the highlight of the journey. I knew when I reached the halfway point, the bridge at Spade Creek, (what I called "The Bridge of No Return"), I was not going to make my 50-mile destination before nightfall. I called it The Bridge of No Return because my husband and I agreed that if I made it beyond that bridge and had a problem, I would continue toward Snoqualmie Pass, and he would start from there and head north. If I hadn't made it to the bridge and had a problem, then I would head back for Stevens, and he would head south towards me from there. At any rate, I knew I could at least get up and over Escondido Ridge before it got dark, and then I would look for a campsite somewhere around 45 miles.

The climb up the ridge is six and a half miles, and while gradual and often runnable, it seemed to go on forever. There are several false summits, and I knew the ridge crested at 43.3 miles according to the map, but my watch was telling me I had already gone 43 miles, and I wasn't there yet. I finally got over the ridge at 8:15 pm, exactly as I had estimated. Daylight was departing fast, and I encountered a sign that said, "Please do not camp for the next two miles; sensitive area." I peeked at my watch and vowed not to camp until two miles had passed.

By 8:39, I had to pull out my mini headlamp, which I brought for camp, not hiking or running in the dark. I held it low, and it did pretty well. I only stumbled a few times. By 8:50, it was completely dark, though a half moon gave enough light for me to see the silhouettes of trees against the sky. I hoped out loud numerous times to get out of the sensitive area, which turned out to be the Lemah Burn of 1994, and find a flat spot to bag down.

I began the switchbacks down the ridge and soon, after getting past two miles, I saw a bright light ahead. I was happy to see two thru hikers with headlamps making their way north. They were headed for the ridge top to camp, and they told me that if I was desperate, there was a flat-ish spot about .2 of a mile away. I was desperate indeed, as it was 9:30 at this point and I knew John and my friends and family following along would be getting worried. It wasn't but one or two switchbacks later that I entered the forest and found a spot big enough and flat enough for me to camp. It wasn't really a campsite, but it would do.

I removed my vestpack and set it down against a log, taking out everything I would need for camp and placing everything food related inside my pack. By this time, it was 9:45 pm, and I was happy to have stopped moving. I changed into my sleeping clothes and put my running shirt inside my pack since I spilled Perpetuem on it. I then hung up my pack on a huge branch of a fallen tree, which took a while because I pulled the wrong end of the cord I brought and it ended up a bird's nest. Pack secured, I set up my "tivy" (bivy-tent), which meant staking the front two corners and the top center, and placing my running pole up the middle. By 10:45, I was inside my sleeping bag, trying to get comfortable.

Even though camp was above 5,100 feet and I could see my breath, it was a warm night. I left my sleeping bag open most of the night and didn't wear my down hood. Instead, I used it and my shorts, socks, and running bra inside my sleeping bag stuff sack as a pillow. I took 3 mg of time-release melatonin and acetaminophen with codeine. I slept, but not very well, constantly turning to try to get comfortable. I found sleeping on my side tough because one leg laying atop the other made the leg on bottom ache, and sleeping on my back made the backs of my knees and lower back hurt. Eventually, I slept well enough to dream. I was awakened at one point by voices, and turned to watch as two runners went by with headlamps. It was 11:55 pm.

I got up at 6:05, eager to see just what my camp looked like. I was pleased to see that my pack was hung safely a good distance away, and my tent was in a reasonably flat spot. I was just out of the burn area, too. While I packed up camp, I boiled some water to hydrate some freeze dried risotto. Even though it sounds like a rough night, it wasn't. I was pleased with my tivy, which breathed well and had no condensation, and also happy with how unafraid I was.

I had already taken the stakes out, so my tivy is collapsed, but you can see how the spot was just big enough for me.

Food
This is one area that needs work. I brought 18 servings of Perpetuem for both days, the idea being I would have one every hour. Perpetuem is a powder you mix with water. I like it as a thin paste that I can sip. I also had Tailwind, which I mixed in my drinking water to give me carbs and electrolytes. For solid food, I brought three wraps made from mini, three-inch tortillas, almond butter, and banana slices. I also had vegan jerky and two freeze-dried meals.

I was happy with the Perpetuem and Tailwind. I would not put banana inside the wraps except for maybe the first one to be eaten. The bananas started to ferment and were gross. The jerky was great, and I loved the risotto. I am sure I would have also loved the spaghetti, but I never got to eat it.

My plan was to eat two wraps spaced out during the first day, snack on the jerky, and put what was left of it in my risotto when I stopped to make dinner. The only problem was that I never stopped to make dinner. I just didn't have time. Instead, I ate the third wrap and didn't have the risotto until morning. I made it at camp and then let it steep while I ran to South Lemah Creek. It was one of the best breakfasts I've ever had, simply because I was happy to be eating a real meal. I never stopped to make the spaghetti since I was already two hours behind schedule the second day and didn't want to be too late in case John wasn't getting my Spot tracks and was waiting for me for hours at Snoqualmie Pass.

Next time, I will bring fewer wraps, more savory snacks, and make sure that I plan for no more than 40 miles of running in one day. That way, I can have enough time to stop and cook a dinner.

Water, a related topic, went well. I had made a list of year-round water stops and their mileage, as well as landmarks and junctions. Unfortunately, I lost this piece of paper somewhere before Mig Lake, which was only 7.5 miles in. I went from memory and only had one time when I ran out of water on Cathedral Pass. Within 30 minutes, I made it to Spinola Creek where I filled up my water bladder. My Katadyn Be Free soft bottle with a filter built into the lid is fantastic!

Gear
I am extremely happy with several of my gear items: Z-Packs 30 down sleeping bag, Katadyn Be Free water bottle, homemade tivy, Garmin Fenix 5X GPS watch, Merrill Agility Peak trail shoes, Black Diamond Z-Pole, Ultimate Direction bladder, Montbell down jacket, and Ibex Woolies 3 pants. Particularly, I love the Katadyn Be Free water bottle. The filter is built into the lid, which also has a cap so you don't have to worry about contaminating the part you are going to drink from. It was so refreshing to be able to drink to my thirst's quench after dipping the bottle into a freezing cold creek. I also used it to fill my bladder; I could easily squirt the water into it from the bottle. Also, my Garmin watch came through for me whenever I needed it--and I did need it a couple of times. The trail to Peggy's Pond was unmarked, and I also started down a trail to a lake once by mistake. I was able to right my course quickly with the Fenix 5X. I also was pleased with my shoes--remarkably, my feet didn't hurt after the first day. I did develop a blister on the inside of my left heel, which has never happened before.

The GoPro Session 5 performed well. Weighing in at two and half ounces, and being only one inch square, it was the perfect camera to take. I took over a hundred photos and more than a dozen videos. The color and exposure are a bit flat, but the videos are smooth. Since John installed the update from last year, it has worked perfectly.

I was satisfied with my HydraPak Flow water bottle for mixing Perpetuem in, my Ultimate Direction Fastpack 20, my Roadrunner 8-inch compression shorts, and most of my other clothes. The water bottle was fine, but if I squeezed it too hard by squishing into my vest pocket with too much Perpetuem in it, it leaked out the top. I just had to be careful. My vestpack is a great size, but the fit just isn't quite right. It isn't women's specific, so it tended to shift to one side or another if there was any imbalance to how I had it packed. Ultimately, my pack was too heavy for me at eight pounds, 13 ounces fully loaded--but that's not the pack's fault. It did chafe on my back on the left side where the bottom of the pack rubbed against me, but I think that was more the fault of the shirt I was wearing. The rest of my clothes performed fine.

I can't say for sure that the Spot Gen 3 Satellite Messenger performed badly, because it's performance may have been my fault. I thought much of the way would be in forest, but the forest was subalpine so the Spot should have easily sent tracks every 10 minutes like it was supposed to. The tracks were sporadic at best, and while all the OK messages I sent came through, people had hours without knowing where I was. However, I had it in the mesh pocket of my vest, and that probably prevented it from sending a signal. I tried it on the outside of my pack on my shoulder on the Cascade Pass to Stehekin run, but it flopped too much and made my collar bone sore. This is something I will need to work on if I do another run.

I was unhappy with my running shirt from Athleta. I chose it because it was white, had an SPF of 50, and was loose fitting. White and loose fitting keep you cool in the heat, and the SPF gave good sun protection. The drawback to the top is that it had a tulip back, which meant that it overlapped in two pieces like upside down tulip petals. The result was that the shirt didn't quite cover my lower back on the left side, which allowed my pack to rub directly on my skin. I have a pretty large welt there now. The shirt also got really dirty, and after two washings it is dingy but clean enough. White was not a good choice.

Smoke and weather
Originally, I was supposed to go on my fastpack on August 21 and 22, but I opted to go early because the smoke from the wildfires was supposed to be slightly better and projected to get worse on the 20th (which it did). Also, there were supposed to be thunderstorms in the mountains on the 21st and 22nd.

As it turned out, for my journey the smoke was terrible in the mountains and probably pretty unhealthy. It impeded the scenery entirely and was worse above 5,000 feet. I could smell it when I got to higher elevation, and the day after my fastpack, my throat was sore and my voice hoarse. Experts say the lungs repair themselves, so hopefully I didn't do any permanent damage. I met people from Belgium, Germany, and Iowa, to name a few places. One hiker I stopped to chat with after cresting Chikamin Ridge was from Cleveland. He was looking out at what would have been a view of Mt. Rainier instead of smoke. I told him I was sorry he couldn't have seen it the way it should be.

As for the weather, it was quite warm. There was an inversion zone, which keeps the smoke trapped, and the warmer temperatures are actually up high. I have grown accustomed to running in the heat this summer, so it wasn't really a problem. With the warm weather comes bugs. They were about what I expected. I used Permethrin on my clothes and no bug spray on my skin. I got some bites, but not too bad. I mostly got them on my back when I took my pack off to get water and then the stupid petal back of my shirt would drape open and bugs would feast. I wore mosquito netting around my head the afternoon of the first day but didn't have any problems the second day.

People
If you want solitude, don't choose Section J of the PCT, at least not in August. Except for at night when I was hiking in the dark and most everyone had tucked into camp somewhere for the night, I always felt like I was among people. And even when I was on the trail at night, I saw a couple hiking in the dark. The first day, I saw 98 people, not including those camped in tents. I only counted the people I encountered on the trail itself. The second day, I counted 129 people. I knew there would be more as I drew closer to Snoqualmie Pass. I didn't mind there being people; it just wasn't what I expected. Everyone was friendly, and I felt safe. Going earlier in July, or perhaps later in September, would have been better in terms of solitude, smoke, and bugs.

Just beneath the waterfall in blue is a hiker praying or meditating. Just as I got to where he was, three people were coming down at the same time.

Conclusions
In all, I haven't really been able to determine what effect this experience has had or will have on me. I certainly learned something about mind over matter. Somehow, having to go 27 miles the second day didn't sound that daunting in the morning, and I can't really explain that. When I had about two and a half miles to go to Snoqualmie Pass, John appeared on the trail. At that point I was alternating running and walking down the trail. It was pretty rugged, so I used my pole as much as possible and found it less painful to run if the terrain would allow it. As soon as I saw John, it was as if a switch in my brain flipped. Walking became slow and painful, as if my body suddenly got through to my brain and said, "We're done." Fortunately, talking to John distracted me the last couple of miles. It was so great to see him!

What would I do differently? If I were to do this section again, I would probably opt for three days instead of two. I think 40 miles the first day is a better max distance for me, at least with this amount of elevation gain and loss. Thirty-five miles would have been too far for the second day. Two other PCT sections in Washington are just under 70 miles, so perhaps those will be better accomplished in two days. Wait, am I already talking about doing another section?

Quick Post: Section J of the PCT

I need some time to process all that I saw and all that happened in my two days of running Section J Southbound on the PCT. I hope to get a detailed post up within the week, but meanwhile, I thought I post briefly with some highlights of my two favorite sites.

The smoke from the wildfires impeded the views entirely, but I still found beauty along the way. In particular, I loved the beginning of the climb to Pieper Pass on the first day, which was switchbacks through granite. The soil was white granite sand, so the trail was white and it was surrounded by white granite boulders. It was pristine. At the floor of the climb, the rocks were dotted with heather and other wildflowers, as well as some short evergreens.

As I approach the climb to Pieper Pass, I turned to look back (north) at what I had just run. From here, the trail switchbacks up to the left (west) through a huge granite-covered slope.

The other area that I loved was on the second day as I began the climb out of the Waptus River basin to Chikamin Ridge. There was a section of burnt forest (Waptus Burn area) with purple fireweed blooming amongst the silver trees with a backdrop of a granite wall.

The burned trees here still had their bark, but a short while later, the bark gave way to silvered wood, and pearly everlasting was the more common wildflower.

It was the hardest physical challenge I have ever undertaken. Heck, Saturday was the longest, hardest run I've ever done (47.5 miles), and then the next day I got up and ran a marathon (27.5 miles)! I am very, very sore today. Much more to follow.

Training on the PCT

I set out at 5:30 this morning on the PCT from Snoqualmie Pass to do 30 miles, out and back. My goal, besides training, was to see all but six miles of what I will have to do the second day of my PCT Section J Southbound fastpack in exactly four weeks from today. In addition to the terrain and elevation gain/loss, I learned a lot about water and my gear. It was a good experience, rounded out by meeting some southbound through hikers.

I got up at 4:00 to eat breakfast and pack up. I had prepared everything the night before, so it was fairly quick. I was out the door by 4:30. Note the darkness outside the screen door!

I found the run up to the Kendall Katwalk to be fairly easy in terms of the grade, but a bit rocky. I had to be careful of my footing after the first half mile the entire day. There was lots and lots of granite throughout the 15 miles of trail, the mostly sharp and pokey kind that seems to grab your feet, along with some basalt (I think). After the Katwalk, I climbed another thousand feet to reach right around 6,000. It wasn't too bad in terms of feeling the elevation, but the trail was super rocky after the Katwalk, with nearly three miles of talus slopes/scree with little in the way of runnable trail. It was slow going. My average of 3.0 miles per hour dropped to 2.9, then 2.8, and then 2.7 when I stopped to fill up on water just after turning around. 

Throughout the day, I had views of Mt. Rainier. It looks tiny in the photo due to the camera, but the mountain loomed impressively on the horizon all day. You can see my bug set up on my hat, too!

I reached the Kendall Katwalk just before 7:30. It was lovely to have it all to myself n the soft morning light.

I really enjoyed the view of Joe Lake (lower left). After cresting a ridge, I dropped down toward it (but never to it) and eventually ended up on the other side, climbing up again and then going beyond it. It was my favorite lake view of the day.

I found the terrain, not the elevation, to be challenging, more so than I had hoped. It took me half and hour longer than my long end of the time estimate I gave John when I left. I am still concerned about being able to do 50 miles before dark on the first day of the PCT fastpack. On the bright side, I did get better at crossing scree, seeing some of it as "big gravel." I also learned to use my pole in a new way. I developed a sort of run/walk rhythm with the single pole: I would leave the pole firmly planted for two swings of my other arm instead of lifting it for each alternating arm swing. While the pole was down, I would run left right left and then walk for the final right, plant the pole again, run left right left, walk right, and so on. It served me well in crossing rocky or steep terrain, whether it was up or downhill.

I was pretty impressed that I crossed the talus slopes, so I looked back to take a picture. The red line marks the trail. However, I didn't know that I had another solid mile and a half of scree coming up! What I had crossed so far paled in comparison because it was broken up with short sections of nearly runnable trail.

This is a sampling of what I had in store for me still. Large rocks, un-runnable without a break for a mile and a half. I wrenched my ankle and jarred them plenty of times. In this photo, Mt. Baker is in the middle on the horizon. It was my only view of Mt. Baker that I noticed.

The most interesting thing that happened today had to do with my water supply. I noticed early on that I was really sweating at the small of my back. My shirt was wet and clammy. It's the first time I had worn the shirt, so I blamed the shirt. It even wicked onto my pack. Hmmm. The thought crossed my mind that maybe my bladder, which has NEVER leaked, was somehow leaking. But I dismissed that thought since the Ultimate Direction bladders are so good.

At mile 13.35, there was a great stream, so on the way back I decided to stop and refill my bladder. To my surprise, the bladder was open! I had started the day with the bladder in the outside sleeve of my vestpack for easy access, but I found it moved around too much, so I moved it to where I usually have it, the inner sleeve made just for it. I don't know if I somehow slid the closing mechanism off then, just enough to cause problems down the line. But what I think happened is that it gradually worked its way off the top of the bladder. The closing mechanism has an loop to run a strip of velcro through so it can be held in an upright position. With the mechanism being slightly off and then all the jostling around as I ran, I think it just slid off. I had very little left in my bladder. I would say about half of it had leaked out. No big deal because I had my Katadyn soft bottle with a filter built into the cap.

This brings me to lesson number five: don't let the harassment of bugs get to you! The bugs were particularly bad at this stream, and in my rush to get the water and move along, I did something really stupid, the kind of stupid that's embarrassing to admit. I was supposed to fill the Katadyn bottle, put the cap with built in filter on, and squirt it into my bladder. But what did I do? I just dumped the water from my Katadyn bottle right into my bladder! At least I realized it before I drank the water. I dumped everything out of my bladder and had to settle for the .6 liter Katadyn. Fortunately, there was water again around mile 9, and again at 7, and yet again at 3.25 (miles from the car). I was never thirsty today.

I also brought an extra food item, which may sound trivial (a Clif Bar) but I never depleted my glycogen stores today, evidenced by the fact that my legs never got shaky. Now I know I did a lot of hiking because of the rockiness, but I covered 30 miles and had 9970 feet of elevation gain and loss. My conclusion about future long runs is that I need to hydrate better and eat more instead of relying on gels, Perpetuem, and Tailwind.

One small thing to correct is my hat and bug netting set up. I sewed bug netting to the inside rim of my hat and put a tiny piece of velcro on the top so I could put it up out my face as needed. It worked quite well, but as long as I was moving, I didn't really need it. What I did need was something to block the sun from the back of my neck. I think I am going to take the netting off my hat and sew it to a small headband instead so I can put it on over my hat as needed, but then sew some kind of UV blocking material to the back of my hat to shield my neck. I know I can buy a hat like this, but I really love my Buff hat. I can hardly tell I have it on!

The highlight of my day, besides the incredible views, was meeting two incredible people, Susanna and Jen! They are solo southbound through hikers from California. I saw both of then (separately) in the first half of my day. I chatted with Susanna in the rocky switchbacks when she got her first view of Mount Rainier. She is quite the backpacker; she did section J in just three days! When I saw her in the last two miles of the day, I was beginning to think I would never catch her. And then when I saw Jen again right at the very end, I was surprised to learn that she, too, was through-hiking, and she had just completed 17 miles. They both looked so fresh. I thought Jen was just out for a casual backpack. I was very impressed, not only with their stamina, but that they were both hiking alone. We all ended up at the parking lot at Snoqualmie Pass at the same time, so I gave them a ride to the other side of the freeway to the Summit Inn, where Jen was staying (and probably Susanna, too, since the food truck and camping in its parking lot didn't manifest).

Sad note for the brother and sister through hikers from Buffalo, NY. They started their through hike by doing the California section, and then flip flopped to the Canadian border to work their way to the southern Oregon border. Today, they hit the 1000 mile mark! The sister was talking about a buffet at Snoqualmie Pass that she was looking forward to. I don't really know what's at the pass, but later it occured to me that she said something about a casino.... I wish I had realized it then, but Snoqualmie Pass and the Snoqualmie Casino are NOT in the same place.

I returned at 5:30 after a long day. I felt the best I have ever felt after a long training run.

PCT Section J Stevens to Snoqualmie Water and Campsite Plans

Using the link to maps referenced in my previous post, I determined where I will mostly likely stop for water, to make and eat dinner, and to camp. There are stretches where water is plentiful, and then there are sections where water is not, likely due to climbing to high elevation.

My goal is to replenish my water at around every 15-20 miles. I want to make dinner a couple of miles before I eat it (boil water, pour it in, and keep going), and camp at least five miles after my dinner spot. I'd like to get to mile 50 to camp so that I only have 21 miles to go the second day. I can walk 20 miles if I am too tired and sore to run the second day.

Here's the plan:

Mile 14: creek; top off water
Mile 19: Deception Creek; refill bladder
several streams between here and the next stop
Mile 22: last water until mile 29 (also water at miles 33, 34, 35, 36)
Mile 36: Waptus River; refill bladder, can camp here if necessary; 3015 ft
Mile 37: last water until mile 48
Mile 41: potential campsite, but 5255 ft; possibly make dinner
Mile 45: eat dinner
Mile 48: stream
Mile 49: large creek; campsite 3241 ft
Mile 50: Lemah Creek; refill bladder, preferred campsite 3198 ft
Mile 52: Delate Creek; last water until mile 67
Mile 67: stream; replenish water as needed
Mile 68: stream; replenish water as needed

Bolded miles are planned stops

Next up, I'll study the trail junctions and find out from two friends to see if they had any difficulty knowing which way to go at junctions.

~LTR